Category: Foreign Films I Don’t Hate
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist: What is the Pakistani dream?
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – 2012 Director Mira Nair Starring Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Martin Donovan Screenplay William Wheeler Written by Mohsin Hamid and Ami Boghani I am thankful for the cinematic voice that is Mira Nair. Who else could take a subject as potentially divisive as a man’s movement from a devoted…
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Forgotten Gem: Mao’s Last Dancer
Mao’s Last Dancer – 2009 Directed by Bruce Beresford Starring Cin Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Joan Chen, Kyle MacClachlan, Wang Shuangbao, Amanda Schull, Ferdinand Hoang Written by Jan Sardi, based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin There’s a point early in Mao’s Last Dancer when young Li Cunxin, is missing home badly. He’s been selected from his small…
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Animal Kingdom is a slow burn with no way out
Animal Kingdom – 2010 Written and Directed by David Michôd Starring Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver, James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton There is a point in Animal Kingdom, where protagonist Joshua “J” Cody (Frecheville), in the bathroom of his girlfriend’s parents’ house, has finally pieced together what the fate of his family…
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The King’s Speech is quiet, humble and dignified
The King’s Speech – 2010 Directed by Tom Hooper Starring Colin Firth, Geoffery Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon Written by David Seidler First thing’s first: The King’s Speech is a great film. It was not, however, the best film of last year. That movie was Inception.…
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Millennium Trilogy, Part 3: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, but good
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest – 2009 Directed by Daniel Alfredson Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Mike Spreitz, Annika Hallin, Aksel Morisse, Georgi Staykov, Anders Ahlbom Written by Jonas Frykberg, Ulf Rydberg, based on the novel by Stieg Larsson There is a moment early on when Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) lays nearly helpless in the…
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Millennium Trilogy, Part 2: The Girl Who Played With Fire continues a fearless journey
The Girl Who Played With Fire Directed by Daniel Alfredson Written by Jonas Frykberg based on a story by Stieg Larsson Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist There is a moment 27 minutes into The Girl Who Played With Fire when Mikael Blomkvist, working on a sex trafficking investigation, gets a ride from his sister over…
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Classic: Monsoon Wedding lets it rain down
Monsoon Wedding Directed by Mira Nair Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah, Vasundhara Das, Vijay Raaz, Tillotama Shome Written by Sabrina Dhawan Mira Nair has made a career out of beautiful films that empower women and men in most unusual ways. Her female characters, seemingly entrenched in tradition, make strides in their lives within the…
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Millennium Trilogy, Part 1: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a journey towards righteousness
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Swedish) Directed By Niels Arden Oplev Starring Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube Written by Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg as an Adpatation of the original novel written by Stieg Larss0n As someone who witnessed the gang rape of a girl, named Lisbeth, when a young man of 15,…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 